The U.S. National Science Foundation is an independent federal agency that supports science and engineering in all 50 states and U.S. territories. NSF was established in 1950 by Congress to promote the progress of science, advance the national health, prosperity and welfare, and secure the national defense.
The goal of the Engineering of Biomedical Systems (EBMS) program is to foster the creation of fundamental and transformative research projects that integrate engineering and life sciences to address biomedical challenges and benefit humanity over the long term. It encourages projects that utilize an engineering framework, such as design or modeling, to deepen the understanding of physiological or pathophysiological processes. Successful projects should advance both engineering and biomedical sciences. This includes developing methods, models, and tools for better understanding or controlling living systems, enhancing information derivation from biological entities, or designing systems comprising both living and non-living components for medical applications. EBMS focuses on areas such as the development of validated models of tissues and organ systems, the design of integrated living and non-living systems for disease diagnosis and treatment, advanced biomanufacturing, and designing technologies to explore physiological and pathophysiological processes. Proposals outside these areas should be pre-discussed with the program director. Projects aiming for a long-term impact might explore cell and tissue functions, improve disease diagnosis or treatment, or enhance healthcare delivery. The EBMS program generally doesn't support projects centered on drug design, biomedical devices without biological components, or animal models of disease. Proposals should highlight the novelty and transformative potential of the project, its importance to engineering science, and its anticipated societal or industry impact.